Dr Immaculate Ampaire, the Assistant Manager of the Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization Programme-UNEPI, says that they selected the four centres due to their accessibility by a big number of people presumed to be at risk of infection such as taxi drivers.
Faced with the low uptake of COVID-19 vaccines, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has opened four additional vaccination centres in the Kampala
Metropolitan area hoping to reach more people. The four vaccines sites
include City Square, Old Taxi Park, Namboole Stadium and Mayor’s
Garden in Entebbe.
Dr Immaculate Ampaire, the Assistant Manager of the Uganda National Expanded Program on Immunization
Programme-UNEPI, says that they
selected the four centres due to their accessibility by a big number of people
presumed to be at risk of infection such as taxi drivers.
//Cue in; ”Visibility and easy…
Cue out…end of October.”//
With only a 2.3million doses administered so far,
Uganda failed to hit the September target set by the World Health Organization
for countries to have vaccinated at least ten per cent of their initially
targeted population. Uganda has set
to immunize about 21 million people including health workers, security
operatives, the elderly and those that live with pre-existing conditions that
lower their immunity.
By the end of
September, the country had vaccinated less than five per cent of the targeted population. Ampaire
says that apart
from hitting the
targets, the Ministry wants to reach as many people as possible since the vaccines so far received have a very short life span, the majority expiring by the end of October. Uganda has a stock of 5,690,363 COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The country
received 1,674,270 doses
of Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccines, which need special storage and should be used within
thirty days.
//Cue in; “Most of the…
Cue out…For easy access.” //
Apparently, only 570,000 people have been fully vaccinated
with two jabs. Also, last week the country received the first batch of the government procured vaccines comprising 196,800 doses of the Johnson
and Johnson Jabs.
This is part of the 9 million doses expected to arrive in a phased manner to avoid
wastage and expiry, according to the
health ministry. Apart from the new sites, Emma Ainebyoona, the Public Relations Officer at MOH, says that they have resolved to leave
the static sites at health facilities across the country intact and employ a mixed approach to target places like the market. There are more than
20 mobile sites in Kampala alone.
